


Persona 5: Phantom Hunters

by Shadowman_DDT



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series, RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Persona Fusion, But with RWBY characters, Crossover, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Retelling of persona 5, The basic story's the same but the details are different
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-15
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:20:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 22,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26483299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadowman_DDT/pseuds/Shadowman_DDT
Summary: After her mother dies in a freak accident, Ruby Rose must return to her childhood home in Vale to live with her estranged father and older sister. However, she doesn't have much time to adjust to her new life when a mysterious Navigation app pops up on her phone that drags her into a world of Shadows where the distorted desires of Vales citizens are made manifest. Ruby is now tasked with restoring the balance in these people's twisted hearts to reform society and improve the lives of herself and her new friends.(A retelling Persona 5 with the cast of RWBY)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	1. The End of the Phantom Thieves

**Author's Note:**

> This is something I've been planning for a while now. This isn't going to be just a retelling of the Persona 5 story with RWBY characters. The basic structure of the story and a handful of plot points will be the same, but there will be major divergences in the story. While some characters will have similar story arcs, there isn't gonna be one to one parallels with Persona 5. The dungeons will all be different, the villains will have different motivations, the Confidants will will have different story paths, new plot points will be introduced, and the final boss (If I ever get there) and their plans will be similar but but not wholly the same.
> 
> Also, I started planning this during volume 5, so some RWBY plot points won't be referenced, and most of the characters introduced in volume seven won't be in the story.

This story is a work of fiction.

Similarities between characters or events to persons living or dead in your world are purely coincidental.

Only those who have agreed to the above have the privilege of partaking in this story.

...The contract has been sealed.

In the modern metropolis of Vale, a massive concert hall stands with spotlights illuminating it, making it stand out even in the light polluted city. The interior of the performance venue was an eye bleedingly gaudy combination of red and gold, with numerous masked patrons milling about, waiting for the next performance. A shadowy figure makes its way above the crowd, swinging from light fixture to light fixture, with only a quick flash of red catching anyone’s eye. 

A group of security guards wearing black suits and dark glasses push their way through the crowd, looking for the intruder currently making their way through the hall. The intruder stands on a balcony in clear view of the crowd below holding a silver briefcase, her long red caped hood bellowing behind her black clad figure. The guards move out of the room to intercept her as a playful smirk grows on her face and she moves away from the balcony. 

The intruder runs along the upper level of the hall’s antechamber while a male voice talks to her through an earpiece, "Nicely done, Thorn. Now that the guards are after you, the rest of us can make a clean getaway." 

"Just be careful, sis." A concerned female voice chimed in. "Don't want you getting into too much trouble." 

"I think that ship has far past sailed." A proper, yet sarcastic female voice pointed out.

"Come on, Princess." An energetic female voice snarked, "Thorn's gotten out of worse situations than this." 

"Yea, but she's usually had back-up." A younger male voice claims, just as worried as Thorn's sister. 

"Then we should get to the rendezvous point and wait for her." A softer female voice stated. 

“We have the briefcase.” A husky female voice announced. “So you don’t have to worry about that.”

“Just make sure you get out in one piece.” A calm male voice advises. 

Thorn makes it to the staircase leading to the back rooms, just as two guards run up the stairs and block her path. The guards shake and convulse violently and change shape so their appearance is slightly malformed. Their upper bodies bulging with unnatural muscles, their skin charcoal black with red vines showing, and grey masks adore both of their faces. Thorn just smirks at the sight of her mutated pursuers as a third appears behind her, emerging from a pool of black and red sludge. 

“Thorn, I’m picking up Shadows surrounding you.” The first male voice tells her. “But They don’t pose much of a threat. Take ‘em out!” Thorn turns to the third guard as her smirk grows into a sinister grin. She jumps into the air, clearing the distance between her and the Shadow guard in a single bound, and lands on its shoulders. She reaches down to grab its mask and rips it off. She jumps off the Shadow, knocking it back towards the balcony as the Shadow’s body melts into a black and red puddle. It reforms into a bull-headed monstrosity with a mostly human torso and mechanical legs ending in a long tail. 

Thorn reaches into her cloak and takes out a collapsible red and grey scythe, extending it into full length and brandishing it in both her hands. The Shadow raises its fist to crush Thorn, but she backflips out of the way and rushes forward. She twirls the scythe around her body as she moves faster than the Shadow can react and slices it repeatedly along its lower half. The Shadow tries to hit Thorn with its tail, but she jumps over the attack and spins in mid-air, cutting the monster even more. 

Thorn gracefully landed with a slide, pushing her cloak aside with a flourish. The Shadow is breathing heavily with black blood oozing from the wounds Thorn had inflicted on it. The cloaked girl smiles at her enemy’s condition and decides to put the monster out of its misery. She reaches up to her gold and red floral printed mask and rips it off in one quick motion. 

“PERSONA!” 

An ethereal being erupts from Thorn’s body. A feminine figure in a flowing dress wreathed in chains and blue flames, also holding a scythe, raises it’s hand towards the Shadow. Red and black energy bursts from the ground at the Shadow’s feet, engulfing it and utterly destroying the monster. 

With her enemy defeated, Thorn takes off in the opposite direction of the other Shadow guards running towards her. She jumps off one of the balconies and uses a grappling line to swing to a maintenance door at the lower floor and kicks it in to make her escape. 

“Okay, I think I lost them.” Thorn says to her ear piece, “But I’m not sure where I am.” 

She hears light sniffing from her team, “I think you’re in the South-East maintenance stairway. According to the map, there should be a way out through the back hallways.” 

“Got it.” Thorn makes her way through the maintenance area of the Concert Hall. She’s able to sneak past more of the security detail, even getting past the video monitoring room. Unfortunately, while making her way to the upper levels of the foyer, some of the guards caught sight of her and made chase. Thorn found herself on a walkway above the foyer and the first male voice contacted her again, “Okay, now look around, Thorn. There has to be a way out of here.” 

Thorn spots a large stained glass window right above the entrance of the concert hall and smiles to herself. Though, thoughts of her grand exit were interrupted by the guards finally catching up with her. She jumps onto the railing of the walkway and runs towards her exit point. Thorn turns back to the guards and gives a salute, “See ya later!” 

She barrels through the glass, gracefully twisting in mid-air. Her cape flowing like a pair of beautifully demonic red wings in the moonlight. “What a show off.” Her proper teammate snarked. “You are so reckless.” 

Thorn landed on the pavement below with a roll, only to be blindsided by floodlights and a whole platoon of police. 

“That’s...Oh, no!”

“What’s happening!?”

“Enemies here!?”

“Get out of there!”

“Thorn!”

“Take her down!” The police all converge onto Thorn as she makes a break for it. She runs towards an alleyway near the side of the concert hall. She jumps on to a fire escape, but is intercepted by more police dressed in SWAT gear. One of the cops hits her in the face with the butt of his gun and knocks her down to the ground. The rest of the police all pin Thorn to the ground and handcuff her. 

One policeman walks over to Thorn lying prone and grabs her by the hair. “Well isn’t this too bad, looks like you’ve been sold out.” Shock flashes across Thorn’s face as she is hauled to her feet and dragged off. 

**JUDGEMENT JUDGEMENT JUDGEMENT**

After being processed and having her mugshot taken, Thorn is dragged down into an interrogation room and generally abused for several hours. Thorn was back in her school uniform, but the fact that she was a literal child didn’t seem to make the police go easy on her. She is shot up with various drugs to make her more compliant and susceptible to revealing the truth. The drugs muddled her ability to fully perceive her surroundings, but didn’t dull the pain she felt when the police threw her around like a ragdoll. 

Her senses were so messed up at one point she couldn’t see or hear properly. The interrogators doused her in ice cold water which threatened to send her into shock, something that actually caused them to pause for a moment as she seized on the floor. They did the bare minimum to make sure she didn’t choke on her own tongue, but otherwise just waited around until her body found some form of equilibrium. 

Thorn’s violent thrashing made the handcuffs cut into her wrists, so the police took them off so she didn't bleed out. When she seemed to finally calm down, the police pick her up and dump her back at the desk in the center of the room and continue their questioning. She stays mostly quiet throughout the punishment in an act of passive defiance. Whether they slammed her head on the desk or choked her out, she stayed silent. After several minutes of refusing to answer any questions, one of the interrogators kicks her out of her chair and stomps on her leg, causing her to cry out in pain for the uptenth time that night. 

“Come on kid, just tell what we want to know, and the pain stops.” He says with a sadistic grin as he grinds his heel into the side of her knee. When he lets up, she collapses on her side and lets out a small sob. “Heh, hard to believe a little girl like you is responsible for all this.” The interrogator says as one of his colleagues hands him a clipboard. “Theft, blackmail, terrorism, possession of weapons… manslaughter too? Quite the wrap sheet, huh?” He turns back to the girl, “And you seemed to be enjoying all of it.” 

_ I...was...enjoying it?  _ She thought to herself.  _ My head is fuzzy...Can’t remember... _ With tears in her eyes, she looks up to the security camera in the corner of the room. 

The interrogator follows her line of sight and chuckles, “What? You think that video could be used as evidence?” 

Thorn thought about it for a moment before answering, “no, i don’t...” 

“Good girl,” He says, pushing her onto her back with his foot. Thorn groans softly as the interrogator kneels down to her level and hands her a clipboard, “Here, it’s a confession in your name. Sign it.” 

Thorns sits up and looks at the paper. She grimaces and pushes it away. The interrogator grabs her by the throat and looks dead into her eyes, “You can either sign the confession, or we can keep hurting you. It’s your choice.” He pushes her down again and holds the confession in her face. 

She takes the clipboard this time and signs her name, “Ruby Rose”.

**JUDGEMENT JUDGEMENT JUDGEMENT**

_ They wouldn’t dare do this without me. _ The woman thought as she walked down the hall towards the interrogation room. She was beyond annoyed, she had spent the better part of the last year working on this. There was no way she wasn’t going to be part of this. The woman, with her snow white hair tied into a neat bun and dressed in an impeccable blue and white suit, walked up to the detectives guarding the door. “My name is Winter Schnee, I’m with the prosecutor’s office. Let me in so I can talk to the prisoner.” 

“Sorry, Miss Schnee, I can’t do that.” One of the detectives says to her. 

“What!?” Her face hardens as she stares down the two, “This is my case. I need to be in there to talk to the suspect.” 

“We’ve been instructed to not let anyone in there, Miss Schnee. Not even you.” 

“Instructed by who?” A lightbulb goes off and she pulls out her phone, “Son of a…”

After only a few rings, an exhausted sounding older woman answers with a sigh, “Yes Schnee, what do you want?” 

“What I want, Director Cordovin, is to know why I am not being allowed to do my job?” 

“This is about the Phantom Thief in custody, yes?” 

Winter starts pacing back and forth through the hall, “I have been building this case for months. Longer than almost anyone else. I should be able to at least talk to her once!”

Cordovin sighed again, “Alright, alright, Schnee. You can talk to her. But make it quick.”

Winter breathes a sigh of relief, “Thank you, ma’am.” 

“Just be careful, Schnee.” Cordovin said, “We still don’t know what her methods are. She could be more dangerous than she seems.” 

“Understood.” She hangs up and raises a brow, shooting the two guards an expecting look. 

The detectives share a look before one enters the interrogation room. After a few minutes, the only person left in the room is Ruby, who the police had placed back in her chair sitting at the cold metal table. Winter walks in to see the young girl and scowls at her bruised face. She takes the seat across from her, but spots the hypodermic needle the interrogator left on the floor, “Bastards.” she says under her breath before directly addressing Ruby. “Do you know who I am?” Ruby looks up for the first time since Winter walked in, and silently nods. “Good. I’m glad they didn’t cause too much damage. It’s deplorable they would do something like this to a child.”

Ruby just looks down again, barely able to keep herself conscious. Winter stares intently at her for a moment before muttering to herself, “I still can’t believe you’re the one behind all this.” She shakes her head and places several files on the table. “I want to know everything. Why you did what you did. How it all started. And most importantly of all, the method. How did you discover that “Other World”? How is it even possible to steal a heart?” 

“it’s complicated…”Ruby answered weakly. 

“Then make it less complicated.” Winter demanded. “We don’t have a lot of time, and I can’t help you if I don’t know everything.” 

Ruby was silent for a moment when the rest of the world seemed to fade away, all she could see was a glowing blue butterfly in the periphery of her vision. It fluttered into her view as she heard a soothing voice in her head. 

“It seems you are trapped. A prisoner of fate to a future that has been sealed in advance. This is truly an unjust game...your chances of winning are almost none. But if you can hear my voice, then there may be a possibility open to you. I beg you, please overcome this game...and save the world. Search your memories. Reconnect to the souls you’ve touched. And the Truth you and your friends grasped. They are your path to victory.” 

“Hey! Are you okay?” Winter grabs one of Ruby’s hands. Ruby slowly looks back at her. “Maybe those drugs affected you more than I thought. Are you sure you can speak?” 

Ruby slowly nodded. “yea...i’m fine…” She takes a deep, pained breath, “okay...i’ll tell you everything…” 

Winter Nodded, “Good. Now, start with the beginning.” 

“it all started...six months ago...after my mom died…”


	2. Welcome to Vale

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I actually finished this a few months ago...but I wanted a friend online to proof read it for me before I uploaded this thing. But he's been real busy as of late, and I just want to get this out. So some parts of this might be a little rougher than others (There's one part I'm really not okay with) So I'll (Hopefully) re-upload this chapter in a cleaner state before the next chapter comes out. 
> 
> Edit: Okay, fixed it.

**Saturday, April 11th. Afternoon**

A passing horn or siren, or something, woke me up. It took me a moment to figure out where I was, before I remember I'm on a train to Vale. It's a trip I've taken dozens of times over the years, but this time…

"You okay, sweety?" Dad puts his arm around me and rubs my side. He's surprisingly big and muscle-y for a teacher. But he also gives some of the best hugs ever. And I really needed them over the last few days.

"Yea," I said quietly, "Just a little tired."

"It's been a long couple of days." My older sister, Yang, said while looking at her phone, "I don't blame you for being a little out of it." Yang looks more like Dad's daughter than I do admittedly. They're both blonde, muscle-y and tall, the only real difference is their eye color. Dad's are blue and Yang's are light purple, kinda like lavender. They both give off this easy-going approachable vibe. Mom used to say either one of them could charm the shirt off your back; and considering Yang's romantic history, and from what I’ve heard about dad's, I don't doubt it.

I've always looked up to Yang, she's so strong and caring. She really helped me deal with everything since she and dad came to Patch to pick me up. I smile at her but stay quiet. I didn't sleep a lot the last week or so, mostly because I keep having bad dreams about what happened to mom. I’d usually try to keep my mind occupied with other stuff rather than get a full night’s rest. That probably wasn't the healthiest thing to do, but I just didn't want to think about what happened.

It wasn't that long after I woke up when the train pulled into the Union Station terminal. When we exit the train station, I take a quick look around. There's a slight chill still in the early spring air, but it's not so bad with a black cardigan sweater over my grey slip dress (With a cute red burning rose symbol on the chest) and a pair of red and black striped stockings keeping me warm.

Yang had on a jacket too, a white one with stylized flames on the sleeves, but it just lazily hung off her shoulders. And she just seemed to only have it to be fashionable since she has a yellow tank top and black bike shorts on underneath. Yang usually runs hot, so it's not surprising she's wearing so little at this time of the year. Something I noticed had become a regular part of her wardrobe over the last year or so was a purple bandana tied around her calf.

Dad had a similar dark red bandana tied to his bicep. And he wasn't wearing much more than Yang. A brown vest over a beige tee shirt and a pair of cargo shorts. Honestly, I think dad and Yang just like showing off how buff they are.

It's been a few months since I was last in the city to visit dad and Yang. For some reason I always think that everything will look different whenever I come back. A handful of things are a little different, mostly just billboards and other advertisements. But, for the most part, it's all still the same. Except...well...mom was always with me when I came here.

I shake the thought out of my head as we come to the main crosswalk of downtown Vale, a huge intersection of about three or four streets, converging at a single point. You can basically find your way just about anywhere in Vale from this point. A downside to this particular part of the city is the ridiculous amount of foot traffic. It's pretty easy to get knocked over if you aren't paying attention to where you're going.

Or it would be if you weren't built like Yang. She accidentally runs into a guy almost twice her size while continuing to stare at her phone and barely flinches. "Yang, what did I tell you about watching where you're going?" Dad said, snatching the phone out of her hand.

"Sorry, dad. But I was reading actual news,” She says with a playful smirk, “Y’know, like you always say I should be doing instead of just Tweeting or whatever?"

Dad looked incredulous for a moment then looked at what she was reading, "'Mysterious Psychotic Episodes caused by alien interference'? Seriously?"

"What? You got a better explanation for what's going on?" Yang says, with a shrug.

"First of all, I can't believe you still read tabloids like this…"

"They're hilarious, and not always as crazy as they seem!"

Dad takes a deep breath before continuing to reprimand Yang. Honestly I wasn't really paying attention since I got an alert on my own phone as soon as we left the station. It seems like a new app just popped up out of nowhere. The thumbnail was a weird looking red and black eyeball logo. I don't remember downloading it before leaving Patch. I wonder where it came from.

Out of pure curiosity, I open the app (It looks like a navigation app) right in the middle of dad and Yang's argument, and suddenly everything around me just goes quiet. Before I can really comprehend what’s happening, I walk into dad and realize that he’s stopped moving. But not just him. I look around and everyone and everything on the street has stopped. All the pedestrians, the cars, Yang, even the bird flying overhead. Everything except me. I try to shake both dad and Yang to get some kind of reaction out of them, but neither budge an inch. That’s when I start hyperventilating a little as the strangeness of the situation slowly becomes overwhelming. 

Then, right in the middle of the crosswalk, a large blue fire erupted, but it didn't seem to be burning anything. The fire slowly started to take on a more defined shape. One that looked like a woman in a dress. After staring wide eyed into the fire for what felt like forever, I saw...Myself? Or...at least what looked like myself, except with a wicked grin and disturbing yellow eyes.

With a blink, the world seemed to return to normal. And like nothing even happened, dad finishes his sentence. "And second…" He lowers his voice, probably hoping I don't hear him, "...I don't think it's a good idea to talk about this kind of stuff when Ruby is still raw about what happened to your mom."

Yang scratched her neck looking slightly ashamed for not thinking of my mental well-being, apparently. "Right, sorry." Yang's eyes moved to me, but I was still kinda freaking out after someone apparently decided to activate The World a few seconds ago. "Ruby? Are you okay?"

"Did you guys see that?" I ask with a frantic look in my eyes.

Yang and dad look around for a moment before she asks, "See what?"

"See all the...all the people they…" I start looking around again, trying to explain what just happened. But then I really think about it. What was I even supposed to say? That something hit the pause button on the city? Including the two of them?

"Uh...nothing...never mind. Um...let's head home." Yang and dad shared a quick look, but then just shrugged it off. They probably just think I'm still shaken up over mom. In the back of my mind, I wonder how long I can milk that to get away with stuff.

I look at the strange Nav app again and drag it down to the trash. I don't know if it was the cause of the time stop, but I didn't want to take the risk.

_**Take your time** _

It only took one more train ride on the local metrorail to get to my new home. It was a place dad got for him and Yang after the divorce that was smaller than the house we had before. Although, it isn't that far from our old neighborhood in Hanau, so I should still remember my way around. It was a nice part of town, too. It has a nice big park in the center with a couple of smaller ponds dotted throughout. There was a movie theater (unfortunately that seems to have shut down since I was last here) a little corner grocery, a second hand store (Yang says the guys who run it has a bunch of retro games) batting cages, and a Mistral Carry-out.

Unlike most parts of Vale, Hanau has more one and two story houses than apartments and a handful of duplexes. If it weren't for the easily recognizable Vale skyline, you'd think Hanau was part of a suburb instead of the city proper. I did miss Vale, but after spending close to eight years in a more rural town like Patch, this feels like a good way to transition back into city life.

I wasn't totally surprised by the number of people in the neighborhood that stopped Dad and Yang while we walked to their house. I did say they were approachable, and they had a pretty good relationship with most of their neighbors. But apparently, the news of what happened to mom had spread throughout town, because just as many people asked if I was dad's youngest daughter, and how I was dealing with everything, someone even asked me how mom died.

Dad really went off on that one guy. I don't think I've ever seen him yell at someone that much.

I wasn't in the best condition when we finally made it home. I never thought a five minute walk could be so exhausting. I just kinda stood in the living room near the front door trying to calm my anxious breathing. Dad put a hand on my shoulder after closing the door, "How ya holding up?"

"I'm fine. Where's my room?"

Dad sighs, "Yang'll show you. I gotta start making dinner." Yang walked ahead of me and made a little "follow me" motion and leads me through the house. It's a nice two story with a fairly large living room, a kitchen to the left, and dad's office in the back making up the first floor. The whole place has a very homey feel to it with realistic wood paneling and sunflowers from dad's garden all over the place.

The second floor is, of course, where the bedrooms are. Me and mom used to share the spare bedroom at the far end of the upstairs hall, but I guess it'll just be my room from now on. Yang opens the door for me and I take a few steps in. It looks a lot different from the last time I was here. Before, it was a pretty plain looking room with cream colored paint, two single beds, some dressers, a red and black rug in the center, and a few posters of bands I put up over the years.

But now, only the paint and the rug were the same. There was an old desk in the corner, the two beds were replaced by one double, there were a few more posters of both different bands and a few games that I like. There was also a general red and black color scheme in the bedding and curtains with lots of rose and skull print.

"After dad made the arrangements to get full custody of you we decided to make the room more in your style. So we gothed the place up a little." Yang said leaning against the door frame with a casual smile. "Even got a work table for you. Mom said you've been getting into tinkering with electronics, so dad thought you could have somewhere to work. We do good?"

I looked over the place one more time and gave her a weak smile, "Yea...it's great. Um, I'm a little tired, so...I mean I kinda want to be by myself for a while."

Yang straightened up, "Oh, uh...right. You probably want to get used to...everything. So no worries. If you need anything, I'll be right across the way." She points to her room across the hall before closing the door.

I stood in the middle of the room on the red and black rug, just letting everything really sink in. I had been in this room a bunch of times over the years, but it's only been for a day or two. And even when I was here I'd usually just bunk with Yang and let mom have the room to herself. But now, this is my room.

Dad and Yang did a pretty good job gearing it more to my tastes, even though some of the gaming posters weren't really the kinda stuff I was into. (There’s a few retro games I’ve ever played, or even heard of before) They were trying to make me feel comfortable. I'm grateful for that at least. I can make the room more my own the longer I stay here.

I dropped my backpack on the floor next to my new bed and sat down. Rummage through my stuff quickly, I fished out a framed picture of me and mom. While Yang looks a lot like dad, I’m practically a clone of mom. We had the same dark red hair, same silver eyes, same vampire pale skin. I place the picture on the dresser by my bed, and after lingering on it for a few more seconds, I stand up and look over the desk.

It is pretty old, but still in good condition. There's plenty of drawers and compartments, as well as a little shelf on top of it. I look in the self, and there's already a few small tools in there. Just a pair of pliers, a few screwdrivers in different sizes, and a dusty pair of safety goggles.

Yang was right about my recent habit of taking things apart and repairing random pieces of old electronics. I was rebuilding a Hi-fi stereo back home with old spare parts I found around town; I even tracked down some vinyl records to play once it was finished. This desk and the second hand store we passed on the way here would have been really handy if I brought the stereo with me. But I didn't really think about it at the time. Maybe I can find another project like that to work on later.

I wander around my room, trying to find something to distract myself with, and decide to look in my closet, not really expecting to find anything. To my surprise there was something in there: A new school uniform. A burgundy blazer with gold accents, a white dress shirt with a red ribbon tie and brown waistcoat, and a red plaid skirt. It's a nice uniform, I guess. The colors kinda blend into each other though. Well, I guess school uniforms don't have to look super stylish.

After closing the closet, I notice a big box sitting in the corner near the door. I'm pretty sure that's most of my clothes and some other stuff Dad had shipped here while we were getting the funeral in order. Figuring it could give me something to do, I drag the box over to the closet and start hanging up my clothes.

While shifting through all my stuff I also find my books, my Playstation, those vinyl records...and the stereo? Huh, I must have packed it without thinking. I was pretty much on auto-pilot for those first few days. Or maybe dad or Yang packed it for me? Either way, now I had something to work on for the next little while.

After I unpacked all of my clothes, I dumped the mess of circuitry and plastic on to the desk. My toolbox was also packed with all my other stuff, so I thankfully didn't have to buy new tools or use the limited equipment that came with the desk.

I started messing with the stereo and very quickly lost track of time. That tends to happen when I really get into fixing things. Mom would sometimes put a book or something on my head to get me to snap out of my trance.

...God, everything reminds me of mom, doesn't it?

I stop in the middle of reattaching part of the stereo's paneling and stare at the desk for a lot longer than I probably should. I stand up again and walk over to the picture near my bed. I've done everything I could in the last few days to think about anything other than mom. It wasn't like just thinking about her would make me cry anymore, not like after it first happened. I just knew I couldn't keep dwelling on it, or I'd never be able to move on. I sat down on the bed just staring at the picture for a while, and let the memories come flooding back.

Yang knocks on my door before opening it, "Hey Rubes, dinner's ready." I don't get up from the bed, "Ruby?" She walks over and looks down at the picture frame in my hands, then sits on down next to me. She hugs me with one arm and rubs my side. She takes the picture out of my hand and rubs a thumb over mom’s face. I lay my head on her shoulder.

"Did I tell you…" I hesitate to start, "...The police had me identify mom's body?" Yang just hugs me tighter and I think back to that day. 

I had just come home from school, and I thought it was a little odd that mom wasn't home like she usually was. But I just shrugged it off. Mom's probably grocery shopping or something. I think to myself. I was mostly just getting ready for my usual post-schooling afternoon of eating unhealthy amounts of sugar while watching cartoons and doing homework when someone knocked at the door just as one of my favorite shows played through it's intro sequence. The policemen explain the situation as gently as possible, but it...doesn't fully click in my head. I heard what they were saying, I understood what the words meant...but I just...Couldn't comprehend what happened.

I was technically right; mom had gone into town for some reason. But, she was hit by a car while going through the crosswalk. She apparently died on impact. The policemen added she probably felt very little pain, to make the whole situation less horrible. But I just...shut down during the explanation. I think they realized my brain had stopped working properly, so they led me to one of their squad cars. I'm pretty sure they were saying something reassuring about what's happened, but I wasn't really paying attention.

The police took me to the morgue while arguing the whole time. Some of them insisted I was too young to see something like this, but others claimed I was the only next of kin to do it. They finally take me to a body covered up by a tarp and, after giving me some time to mentally prepare myself as best I can, they pull back the tarp and…

I just started crying. I was a mess of incoherent sobbing for a long time. I think the police could figure out that the body was my mom just from my reaction, because none of them tried to ask if I recognized her again after they first showed her to me. For the first few days, whenever I close my eyes, I just keep seeing her mangled body, and hearing the same questions over and over again. "Do you recognize her?" "When was the last time you saw her?" "Do you have anyone you can stay with?" "Do you have any other living relatives?" 

I could recognize her face, for the most part. But her body...was…

I started sobbing while telling Yang the parts of what happened that I was comfortable telling her. She brings me into a full hug and I just cry into her shoulder while she strokes my hair. "Shhh, it's okay. It's okay. God knows I bawled my eyes out when dad told me about mom. I don’t think I ever cried that much in my life. So just let it out. I’ll be here for you.” I'm not sure how long I was crying, but eventually I hear dad calling from downstairs to come eat.

I was about to get up, but Yang stopped me, "Hey, you stay here and rest. I'll tell dad you weren't hungry. Okay?" I hiccup a few times and nod. Yang hugs me one more time and kisses my forehead before leaving. I try to wipe the tears from my eyes and place the picture back on the dresser, before curling up on the bed and slowly drifting into unconsciousness.

_**Take your time** _

I woke up in...what I am pretty sure isn't my room. The bed is much smaller, and the walls are made of wood. Not like the wood paneling in the living room, it's like I'm in a log cabin or something. The bedding, curtains, and carpeting are all blue, for some reason. There's only one window at the foot of the bed that shows a broken moon? I swing my legs over the edge of the bed while still looking around the weird room. There doesn't seem to be anything else in the room other than the bed and a single door.

The thought that I was kidnapped somehow actually popped into my head for half a second, but I don’t think that could even happen in a neighbourhood like Hanau in broad daylight. I mean, I’m not exactly a light sleeper, but even as tired as I was I doubt someone could just take me out of my house without waking me up. Especially since Yang and dad would have put up some kind of fight to help me. 

I guess the kidnappers could have used chloroform to keep me asleep...no, that’s ridiculous. 

Also the moon wasn’t broken last night, so I’m pretty sure this is just a dream. I can’t imagine how else I could have gotten here. 

I look down and finally notice I'm not wearing the clothes I fell asleep in. Instead I was wearing a huge red hood that wraps around my neck like a scarf and extends into a slightly tattered cape. I also had on an off-white peasant blouse and a black skirt, with red sheer stockings and black knee high combat boots. Completing the look was a red trimmed black corset that came over my chest and a pair of black leather cuffs on my wrists.

I look over this weird, but kinda cool new outfit, "Well, I do like corsets." I think out loud.

Ever since I woke up, I could hear a woman singing a beautiful song accompanied by a lovely piano piece; but it sounded like it was coming from behind the door. I hesitantly walk over to the door and peek into the other room. I didn't even think it was possible, but somehow, the next room was even more confusing than this one.

The room was, of all things, a large hunting lodge. There was a fireplace that had a blue fire in it. I think there's some kind of chemical that can turn a flame blue, but I can't remember what it is, so it's still freaking me out a little. Dead game lined the wall, but instead of stuff like deer and mounted fish there were strange looking creatures. A goat with huge horns and a torch on its forehead, a large red bird that kinda looks like a peacock, and a literal freaking dragon! And yet, SOMEHOW, that still wasn't the weirdest thing in the room.

That had to be the two people in the center of the room. One was a girl around my age with cute freckles, big yellow eyes, and red hair that ended in curls near her chin. She was wearing what I could only describe as a black, blue, and grey lederhosen dress and black stockings. She also had a crooked blue bow on the back of her head and a brooch on her collar with a power button symbol like the kind you'd find on a stereo or tv.

The girl looked mostly normal but the other person...Woah…

He was an old balding man with white hair and pointed ears. He had a long nose and blood shot eyes that were almost bulging out of his head. And the creepiest part was his big toothy grin. He wore a black suit and white gloves. He had his hands folded under his nose with his elbows on the desk in front of him. Once I was fully in the room, the man held his hand out to me and said in an unnaturally deep baritone, "Welcome to my Velvet Room."

He was gesturing towards the chair placed in front of the desk he was sitting at, so I walked up to the desk and sat down. The red haired girl was sitting on my side of the desk, and I just now notice she's holding a big book with odd symbols on the cover. She gives me a pleasant, reassuring smile. It helped calm me down a little. "I'm sure you have many questions." The man said, and I also notice that even when he talks the grin never goes away. Suddenly I'm not so calm anymore. "But first, allow me to introduce myself. I am Igor, the master of this place."

"...Hi?" I give Igor a small wave, not really sure what else I should do or say. This had to be a dream.

Igor just chuckles in a low rumble, "This all must be quite confusing. However, if I may explain." He gestures to the rest of the room, "This is a place between the world of dreams and reality, between mind and matter. And where your journey shall begin."

I look at Igor confused, "My journey? What do you mean?"

"All will be revealed in time. But first, this is my assistant, Penny." He motions to the red haired girl sitting next to me.

She does a little salute before finally saying something, "Salutations!" Okay, wasn't really expecting that. "It is a pleasure to meet you. I will do everything in my power to aid you in saving the world!"

The overly chipper way she talked, (Seriously, and Yang used to say my voice was too upbeat) almost distracted me from what she actually said, "Wait...What do you mean 'Save the World'?"

Penny looked shocked and placed a hand over her mouth, "Did I say too much, Master?" She turns to Igor.

He just waves his hands in a dismissive way, "It is fine, Penny. Miss Rose will have to know the stakes eventually if she is to complete her quest."

"You...know my name?" Right. Dream. Of course he knows my name.

"I do. However, if we are to aid you on your journey, I must first find out more about you." He says as he snaps his fingers, and a deck of cards appear out of nowhere. I think they're Tarot cards. (I wouldn't be much of a Goth if I didn't at least know what Tarot was) The cards shuffle themselves, and with a wave of his hand, three cards gently land face down in front of me and the rest of the deck disappears.

"This is your past." The first card flips itself over and floats in the air so I can see it. It has the image of a skeleton dressed in black armor, riding a white horse. "Death" I suck in some air when Igor mentions the name of the card. But he just chuckles again, "No need to worry, Death merely means change, or a major transition in your life."

I look at Igor, then look down, "My mom died recently. That's why I had to move back to Vale."

Igor's disturbing grin doesn't falter a bit as he says, "Well, that is most certainly a monumental change." At least Penny looks a little sympathetic. I'm starting to think whatever Igor is, he might not be capable of human empathy.

"Then, your present." The second card does the same as the first, showing a naked woman kneeling at the edge of a small pool with two containers of water in each hand, and a bright star in the background. "The Star. It represents a moment of reprieve after a time of turmoil. A renewed sense of hope and faith, and a feeling of comfort."

Well, I guess that makes sense. I did start feeling a lot better after Dad and Yang came to pick me up. That little breakdown I had before this bizarro dream started notwithstanding; I did feel comfortable in my new room. This is a surprisingly accurate reading. I never put much stock into fortune telling stuff, but I suppose the floating cards means Igor might be magic or something?

"And now, your future." The last card flips itself and shows a man with one of those old hobo bindles and a dog nipping at his heels while he walks towards a cliff. "The Fool. My, my; most interesting."

"Fool? Does that mean the cards think I'm dumb?"

"No, quite the opposite, actually." Igor snaps his fingers again and the cards all disappear. "The Fool represents innocence, a free spirit. But It also means the beginning of a new adventure, and the capacity for infinite potential. Those who have the blessing of the Fool are meant for great things. You, Miss Rose, are a very special young woman."

"The world is in great danger, and Ruin is unavoidable." Igor says, as he folds his hands under his nose like when I first got here as he continues to explain, "In such times, there are those who would rise to stand against the darkness that threatens to consume all. These people are called Huntsman and Huntresses. You must become the Huntress, Miss Rose."

Well, that's...I'm not sure how to even react to that. This is just a dream, right? So none of it matters, right? But then, how do I know what the Tarot cards mean? Why does this all not feel like a dream? And why am I so scared all of a sudden?

"Ah, but I'm afraid our time together has come to an end." Igor says, leaning back in his chair, "Penny, would you kindly show our guest to her room?"

Penny salutes again, "Of course Master." She then stands and takes my hand, "Right this way, Miss Rose." Penny leads me back to the door I came from and opens it for me. I walk into the room, not really sure what's happening. But I turn back to Penny before she closes the door, "Sleep well Miss Rose. I eagerly await your return."

"Wait, retur-" The door closes and I wake up in my bed.

**Sunday, April 12. Morning**

I sit up and stretch, feeling my joints pop and snap. I guess I fell asleep in my clothes, I already kinda miss that weird outfit in my dream. I wonder if dad will let me get more corsets. Mom was pretty okay with them, but I don't know about dad.

The sun's still up. Guess I didn't sleep too long. I fish my phone out of my cardigan's pocket to check the time, "9 AM!" It was close to five in the afternoon when I fell asleep! I was out for 14 hours!?

Okay...That's odd. But, I haven't been sleeping well for a while. And that was the first night in weeks I didn't have a nightmare. As weird as it was, maybe dreaming about that Velvet Room place was what I needed to get through a full night without waking up in a cold sweat. And I guess my body just…overcompensated for the lack of sleep?

Yea, that makes sense.

Shaking my head, I get out of bed and plug my phone into the wall. But as I do, I notice that weird app from yesterday. Okay, I know for sure I didn't download this thing now. Where did it come from? Maybe it's some kind of virus. I don't know. Nothing else to do but delete it again and hope it stays gone this time.

I head down stairs, trying to get my hair into it's normal level of messy, and pick up the scent of sausage and eggs. Dad's at the shove when I walk into the kitchen. He's gotten a lot better at cooking since the divorce. That's not to say he was exactly bad at it before, it's just that mom usually did the cooking after work. But whenever we'd visit he always insists on making us stuff.

"Hey, sleepy head." Dad says when he finally notices me. "Man, you were out like a light. You feeling okay?"

"Yeah, I was just really tired last night. Sorry I missed dinner."

"Eh, it's no problem. We have some leftovers you can snack on later." Dad put some of the food on a large sheet after it was finished cooking. It smelled really good. "Yang awake?"

I nod, "I heard the shower going and her singing off key."

Dad just starts laughing, "That's my girl!"

I sat down at the kitchen table while dad prepared breakfast and just thought about things. That strange dream was still vivid in my mind. Which itself is odd. I don't usually remember dreams all that well. Even when it was a really good, or really bad dream, by now I'd only have vague memories of whatever I was feeling. But I still remember everything that happened in the Velvet Room. I still remember Igor and Penny, the blue fire, the beautiful singing, and that weird Tarot reading. I wonder if those cards meant what Igor said they did. I should look that up later.

"Hey sis!" Yang slaps me on the back, snapping me out of my introspections, and sits down next to me, "How'd you sleep?"

I smiled at her, "Good. I had kind of a weird dream, though."

"Really, what was it about?"

"Um…" I scratch my cheek, not totally sure how to explain the dream, "Well, I was somewhere called the Velvet Room. There was this old man and a girl my age with cute freckles. And there was a fireplace and this music playing somewhere. And I was wearing this weird outfit..."

"Okay! I think that's enough dream talk!" Dad burst out suddenly with a strange panicked look on his face. He put a plate with eggs, bacon and sausage on the table. "Why don't we just dig in and change the subject to literally anything else, huh?"

"Why? What's wrong dad?"

Yang rolled her eyes, "Dad, come on. You don't need to freak out about this."

"I'm not freaking out!" He said in a high pitched voice, which always meant he was really uncomfortable about something. Still not sure why though. “I just would have thought Summer would have talked to you about...y’know...growing up, and...y’know…”

"No, I don't." My brows furrow, still not completely sure what's happening, "Talk to me about what?"

"Ruby it's okay." Yang puts a hand on my shoulder with a reassuring look, "I remember having dreams like that what I started to figure out I was bi." Oh...OH GOD! "I mean, the old man part is a little weird. But everyone has their thing."

"NO! No no no! It's not like that!" I start waving my hands in the air because EWW! "It was a log cabin! Like a hunting lodge or something. With like bearskin rugs, and animal heads on the wall. And the fireplace had blue fire. And I was just TALKING to the old man and the girl! Not...doing...other stuff!"

"So, this wasn't a sexual awakening type thing?"

"No!" I just rub my temples, "Yang, for god's sake, you came out when you were fourteen. Don't you think I'd know something like that about myself at fifteen?"

"Hey, everyone figures this kinda stuff out differently." She just shrugs and starts filling her plate, “Besides, the Velvet Room totally sounds like the name of a strip club.”

“I mean…” Dad is actually blushing slightly, “I wasn’t gonna say anything but…”

Letting out a heavy sigh, I just started piling food on my plate too, "Let's just do what dad wanted and change the subject."

Dad looked visibly relieved, "Okay good. But...uh...If you ever DID need to talk about sex. Or boys. Or girls. Or anything. I'm here for you, sweety."

Well, dad might be a little awkward about this kinda thing, but he's trying. I gotta give him that. I smile a little, "I know, dad. Thanks." I take a few bites of bacon. It's really good.

Dad nods and starts eating his breakfast. After about a minute, he asks, "So...you've had your period already, right."

"Oh look at that! I'm full!" I just really needed to leave this conversation as soon as possible. While Yang was laughing her head off, I walked as quickly as possible out of the kitchen.

"Ruby, wait." Dad stops me before I can get too far from the table, "Make sure you get changed before noon. I already have you registered for the next semester at Beacon, but we have to go over to the school to finalize everything and get your class assignments."

"Oh, okay." I head back to my room to kill some time. I thought about working on the stereo again, but instead I decided I need to not think for a little while. So I got my Switch out of my backpack and started up an RPG I already finished the main storyline for so I could do some mindless level grinding.

I ended up switching to an open-world adventure game; just wandered the virtual environment, hunting down monsters and getting their parts to make new gear until around 11:30. (I thought maybe I could complete an armor set I’ve been trying to make for a while, but oh well) I took a quick shower and changed into the uniform hanging in my closet. I just figured I might as well get used to wearing it. Who knows, maybe when the principle sees me in the uniform already he'll like me more? I don't know. It couldn't hurt at least.

**Sunday, April 12. Mid-Day**

The drive to Beacon was mostly silent. I think dad was still a little awkward after the misunderstanding at breakfast. I was busy looking out the window to watch the city fly by us. There are a few places we pass that I remember from when I was little. Stores, and restaurants, and parks we used to go to. Some of them were still as I remember, but others were either changed or just gone. It’s a strange feeling. Like everything’s new, but it’s also familiar. 

Even though I did grow up in Vale, there were still a bunch of parts of the city I've never been to. Beacon was in one of those parts, I think it's in a neighborhood called Aesop Atrium.

Beacon Academy is a fairly prestigious high school in Vale that's actually produced a lot of successful alumni. The only reason me and Yang could attend was because mom and dad were alumni themselves and they personally know a lot of the staff.

The school has three stories, with each floor being dedicated to different fields of study. The first floor was for stuff like history and science. The second floor was for art and literature classes. The third floor was dedicated to math classes (algebra, calculus, geometry, stuff like that) Dad even mentioned there was a garage on the first floor, both for students who could drive and the auto shop classes.

The campus was mostly empty when we arrived and dad led me to the principal's office. For the most part there were only a handful of teachers walking the halls or working in their classrooms, but there were some students as well. I saw a really tall girl with long red hair talking to a couple of teachers and holding a clipboard. She's too far away to hear what she's saying, so I don't pay too much attention to her.

As we moved from the second floor to the third, a girl with wavy black hair, a black bow on top of her head, and striking golden-amber eyes walked by us, heading downstairs. She stops in her tracks and we make direct eye contact. Her eyes moved up the stairs to dad heading to the top floor (he either didn't notice the girl, or didn't care enough to acknowledge her) then looked back to me, "Hey, are you…"

"Ruby! Get up here, what's wrong?"

"Coming dad!" I turned back to the girl, but she wasn't there. I look down the stairs and just barely catch a glimpse of her turning the corner in the stairwell. Not sure what that was about, but I shrug it off and join dad on the top floor and we find the Principal's Office.

When we enter the office, there are two people waiting for us. A man sitting behind a desk and a woman standing next to him. I kinda have a quick flash back to the Velvet Room, but shake it off. The two don't even look like Igor and Penny really. The man at the desk (Principal Ozpin? I think that's his name) had grey hair, but looked much younger, and wore a green suit and a plaid ascot. He also had tinted bifocals perched on the bridge of his nose.

The woman looked like she was the teacher I was supposed to meet. She was blonde with her hair tied up into a neat bun, had green eyes, and a pair of glasses. She was dressed in the same kind of dress shirt and pencil skirt that you'd expect a high school teacher to wear.

"Ozpin, how's it goin? Glynda, looking good as always." Dad greeted them with the same type of friendly enthusiasm he did with just about everyone.

While Principal Ozpin smiled slightly, the teacher, Glynda I guess, just scowled, "It's Miss Goodwitch when we're at school. Please show at least some level of professionalism, Taiyang."

"Glynda, you've met Mr. Xiao-Long before, yes?" Principal Ozpin said, cocking his eyebrow, "I'm sure you know that is quite impossible for him." Dad just shrugged and agreed with him. "Now, if you two would sit, we can finalize everything."

The meeting was mostly uneventful. Me and dad had to sign some stuff and Ms. Goodwitch gave me the syllabus and my schedule for the semester. I hadn't said anything during the entire meeting, and Principal Ozpin apparently took notice, "Miss Rose, is everything alright? Do you have any questions, or comments?"

"Uh...no. Not really."

The two teachers look at each other real quick before focusing on me again, Ms. Goodwitch speaks first, "Well, we understand you’ve had a very...traumatic time as of late.”

My face falls, "Wha-what do you mean?"

“Your mother.” Ozpin gives me a sympathetic look, "It's all quite terrible, especially for one so young. If you need to talk to someone, we have a counselor on staff."

"He was supposed to be here to meet you," Ms. Goodwitch says with an annoyed sneer in her voice, "But I'm sure you'll see him when he actually wants to do his job. I do, however, have to question if it's a good idea to have Ruby skip two grades at such a sensitive time for her. It might help if she is in a less intimidating environment with students her own age."

I wonder if it's possible to just disappear by just sitting very still and not making any noise. If it is, it apparently doesn't work since dad lightly pats me on the shoulder before addressing my teacher, "Maybe, but me and Summer both agreed Ruby could handle the workload after having a nice long conversation with her, so I'm not too worried about that. And If anything, having Yang be around will only help Ruby adjust to everything. My girls have a good way of balancing each other out."

Principal Ozpin nods at dad's reassuring speech, "If you truly believe this is what's best, then who are we to argue?" He extended his hand to me with a warm inviting smile, "Welcome to Beacon, Miss Rose."

_**Take your time** _

"While the casualties were low, the damage caused by the subway crash will cause widespread delays in commute. When the conductor was asked, "What caused him to accelerate the train to such an unsafe speed?" He claimed he had no recollection of the events off the crash, or in fact his entire shift."

"These Psychotic Episodes are becoming more frequent." Cordovin plainly stated while muting the TV she and Winter were watching the news on. The elderly diminutive woman sweeps some white bangs out of her face as she leans back in her chair, carelessly tossing the remote of her mahogany desk.

"Every victim has made the same claims," Winter informed Cordovin, reading from a file she brought with her, "They blackout at seemingly random moments, perform a violent or otherwise uncharacteristic action, only to regain their sanity with no memory of the event."

"And there is no connection between the victims?"

"There doesn't seem any, ma'am, no."

"What about psychological histories?"

"Well," Winter flips through the files, "There was a known drug abuser, one with mild schizophrenia, and a high functioning autistic."

"That's it?"

"Unless you want to hear about ADHD and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, that's it. There is no apparent correlation between the victim's mental state and whatever violent act they performed."

Cordovin just sighs and puts her head in her left hand, "I'm too old for this. You know, when I was in the field, we never had to worry about people going temporarily insane at random."

"The police are doing everything they can to solve the mystery of these Psychotic Episodes."

"But they aren't doing enough. People are afraid, Schnee." Cordovin said, giving Winter a hard look, "And our superiors want results. We need new eyes, someone who hasn't been banging their head against a wall for the past few months. So we're bringing in someone else."

She presses a button on her desk phone and instructs someone to "Come in". A woman around the same age as Winter entered Cordovin's office with black hair tied into a loose ponytail and bangs covering her left eye. She was dressed in a black suit typically worn by detectives or government agents. "Winter Schnee, Cinder Fall. Interpol Agent from Mistral."

Cinder offered Winter her hand, "I read up on you. One of the youngest prosecutors in your district, an impeccable win record, even the police respect you. It'll be an honor to work with you."

Winter gives Cinder a wary look, "If you say so. I am curious why Interpol would even care about the Psychotic Episodes."

"Vale isn't the only city that had to deal with this kind of thing. Incidents eerily similar to these Psychotic Episodes popped up across Anima for a few months some years ago, but Mistral's government was never able to discover the cause or catch the perpetrator. I suppose you can consider this an attempt at redemption."

Winter quickly looked the foreign agent over before responding, "Okay, I guess. So what do you need?"

"Information sharing will suffice for the moment. Perhaps we can go out to lunch, get to know each other?" She said with a charming smile.

Winter, however, just walked past her and out of the office, "Or we can go to my office and not waste any time?"

Cinder followed with an imitation of a childish pout on her face, "Well, you're no fun."

_**Take your time** _

Okay, there's one thing about city life I really didn't miss: Traffic. "Come on! Let's get moving!" Dad yelled out the window while honking the horn. Dad may be a big cuddly teddy bear, but he can get good and angry when he needs to. And nothing can get his blood boiling more than getting stuck in traffic for an annoyingly long time. And we've been sitting in the car for almost an hour now.

After a while I started to think something might have been wrong, so I checked the news feeds on my phone and found multiple articles about a freak subway accident that happened not long ago. Not much information has been released, so it isn't clear exactly what happened yet.

"Hey, dad. I think this is the reason everything's so backed up." I held up the phone for him.

He scans the screen for a moment, "Oh the love of…" He turns on the radio and tunes it to a news station.

"...Fortunately, there were few casualties. However, the subway accident has stalled most transit from Aesop's Atrium to Cardinal Street. The delays could possibly last for hours…"

"Oh, come on! We really have to deal with this now!?"

"Dad…"

"Uh...I mean, I'm glad the damage was minimal. But god knows when we're gonna get out of this." I get that dad is restless and frustrated, but come on. Oh well, at least not too many people were hurt.

"No official statement has been made about the accident. But many on social media are already claiming that it is another example of the 'Psychotic Episodes' that have been rumored to be plaguing Vale for several weeks now…" Dad turns the radio off in the middle of the the report and mutters about how stupid it is.

But the phrase the reporter used, "Psychotic Episodes". I saw that word pop up once or twice in the comments of some of the news sites I looked through. And I think Yang mentioned something like that yesterday. It seemed like dad didn't want me knowing about it. I'm pretty sure that's why he turned the radio off. But we're kinda stuck here for a while, so I might as well try to get something out of him.

"Hey dad, what are these Psychotic Episodes the radio was talking about?"

He just sighs and leans against the car window; yea, I can tell he really doesn't want to talk about this with me. "It's just this stupid rumor that's been going around for the last few months. Things have been...Chaotic in Vale recently. People apparently going nuts for no reason and doing strange things. No one knows what's going on, so naturally the conspiracy theories start popping up." He looks over to me and ruffles my hair, it always manages to get a smile out of me. "Look, don't worry about it, okay Ruby? Just focus on school and all the new friends you're gonna make."

My smile turns slightly crooked as I say, "Yea, 'cause every high school kid wants to make friends with the freak smart girl 2 years younger than them." Mustering as much sarcasm as I can.

"Aw don't be like that. Some kids really value intelligence."

"Yeah, and the others want to beat it up." I sink into my seat. "I guess Yang could beat them up back." I giggled at the idea, and I thought dad would too. But instead he just cleared his throat and crossed his arms. Weird, he usually goes along with those kinds of jokes. Heck, he usually takes them farther than I do.

"Dad? What's…?"

"Let's turn on some tunes, huh?" He turns on the radio and tunes it to some classic rock station. The music is loud but not particularly overbearing. This was a fairly common thing for dad to do when he wants a conversion to be over. I'm not sure what's upsetting him so much, but I didn't want to push too much, so I just let it go. At least there's some good music to listen to while we wait for the traffic to lighten up.

**Sunday, April 12. Evening**

It was pretty late in the afternoon when we finally got home. Dad was absolutely fuming and spent the better part of the drive home, and even as we walked into the house, ranting about Vale's messed up infrastructure.

Once I was back in my room, I spent the rest of the afternoon going over all of the handouts Ms. Goodwitch gave me and my schedule for tomorrow. Around eight, Yang came into my room and suggested we set up my Playstation in the living room.

Pretty soon, we're playing one of her favorite fighting games with her constantly trash talking as she pounds my adorable little tonfa wielding priestess into the dirt. I probably should have seen this coming.

After the third round where she knocks my character out of the ring before I can even hit her once, Dad pokes his head out of the kitchen, "Alright girls, dinner's ready."

"Okay, dad." Yang says as she stands up and stretches, "I was getting kinda hungry handing Ruby her ass for almost an hour."

"I am never playing with you again." I grumble while we walk into the kitchen. I could smell what dad was making from the living room, but wasn't sure what it was until now. Spaghetti and meatballs with fresh baked garlic bread. Something nice and simple.

"You always say that. But then we just go right back to you getting rekt digitally." She continues boasting and fills her plate.

I just point a sauce covered fork at her, "That's because it's usually months in between visits, so I'm always really happy to see you again and I forget what a sucky winner you are. But now that I live here I shan't forget the travesty you've inflicted upon me this day!"

"Aw, did you really miss me that much."

"Shut your face, that's not the point!"

"Why don't you both shut your faces and eat?" Dad says and crosses his arms.

Me and Yang shared a quick glance before she said, "But father, how can we eat if we shut our faces?"

"Yes papa," I add, fluttering my eyes like a confused doe, "Don't we need our faces open to put food in them?"

He just smirks at the two of us, "You girls think you're cute, huh?"

"I think I'm adorable." I give the brightest, most innocent smile I can.

Yang lends back in her chair, lifting the two front legs up off the ground, "And I'm pretty sure most of the guys at school would say I'm more than 'cute'."

"Gross."

"Hey, you were the one dreaming about old men in log cabins."

"We weren't doing anything!"

"Can you two please start eating before you give me an aneurysm?" Dad exclaims, rubbing his forehead. Me and Yang laugh a little before we dig in.

After a moment of silence where we all get settled, Yang speaks up again, "Oh yeah! Dad told me about you skipping grades. How crazy is that?"

I blush a little at Yang's words, I've never been all that comfortable with people praising me. "It's not that big of a deal."

"Of course it's a big deal, my little genius!" Dad ruffles my hair again.

Yang's smile brightens, "Hey maybe we have the same classes. Who do you have for homeroom?"

"Ms. Goodwitch?"

Her smile deflates a little, "Damn, I got Peach. Oh well, Maybe we have a few others together."

I shrug, "Maybe." I take another bite when a thought pops into my head, "Oh and since we're going to the same school I can come to see you at boxing practice!" As soon as the words leave my mouth, both dad and Yang freeze. Not like yesterday, but it's still kinda strange.

Dad swallows a mouth full of spaghetti and says to me, "Uh, your mom didn't tell you about Yang?"

"Didn't tell me about what?"

"I got kicked off the boxing team." Yang ground out staring at her plate.

I look wide eyed at Yang, not believing what she just said, "You...But I thought you were the best fighter on the team?"

She looks up with an angry gleam in her eyes, "I am."

"You were." Dad stated, "Until you lost your temper. Again."

Dad and Yang glare at each other, I'm pretty sure they've had this argument before. "So...What happened, exactly?"

"It was just a misunderstanding." Dad said off-handedly.

"I punched the team couch."

"Because of a misunderstanding." He said, much sterner.

"It wasn't a misunderstanding. I know what he said!" Yang pounded her fist on the table, making me flinch a little.

"And I know James, he wouldn't say something like that!"

"So you don't believe me!? I'm your fucking daughter!" Yang shoots up, knocking her chair over as she does.

"I didn't say that! I'm just saying, when you get angry you tend to blow things out of proportion!"

"Oh like how my dad thinks I'm a fucking liar! Thanks a lot!" Yang turns on her heel and storms out of the kitchen.

"Wait, Yang! I didn't…" But she was half-way up the stairs already. Dad just falls back into his seat with a sigh, "Dammit…"

Wow, I've never seen dad and yang go at each other like that before. I mean, they argue. Of course they do. Yang's steered into the teenage rebellion thing hard, so she isn't exactly a stranger to getting in trouble. But this seems so much more personal, "Dad, what did that teacher say to Yang?"

"Nothing. Trust me, Ironwood wouldn't…"

"Then what does she "Think" he said?" I said with a hard edge in my voice, "I'm not letting this go dad. Not like in the car."

He just gives a resigned heavy sigh, "He said something about...her mom."

"He said something bad about mom?" Well, that hurts a little. I know he couldn't have possibly known what would eventually happen, but…

"No, not about Summer." Dad says softly, "About Raven."

"Oh...Yeah, I can see why she hit him." Raven Branwen was Yang's biological mother. Although me and Yang didn't know we had different moms until the divorce. Apparently Raven abandoned dad and Yang shortly after giving birth, and no one has been able to find her since. Well, Uncle Qrow might know where she is, but he hasn't said anything. Yang is pretty sensitive about the topic of her birth mother, and combine that with her short temper, it's not surprising something like this happened.

"Yea, but like I said…"

"I know. I know. You believe your friend, but not your daughter." Dad doesn't say anything in response. I don't think he really has one.

We finish dinner in near total silence. There wasn't really anything left to say at this point. After eating I head up to Yang's room and knock on the door. She tells me to come in and I look inside. The room is about the same as I remember it. Pale yellow painted walls with posters of famous athletes and women in bikinis. She's laying on her bed with yellow and black checkered sheets and looking on her phone.

I walked fully in, closed the door behind me and held up the plate I bought, "I thought you might still be hungry, so I brought this up with me."

She smiles at me and moves over a little, patting an empty space on the bed. I step over some of the junk on her floor, like discarded weights, dirty clothes, and random books and magazines as I place the food on a bedside dresser and sit down next to her. "Dad told me about what that teacher said to you."

She just scoffs with a frown. "So do you think I just 'misunderstood' him, too?"

I just shrug at her question. Yang is a surprisingly easy person to read. She tends to put her emotions out on her sleeve, but even when she tries to hide what she's feeling she's not great at it. Not like I'm one to talk, but a pretty major tell that she's getting annoyed is her habit of clenching and unclenching her fist. Almost like she's a second away from punching whoever she's talking to. Not that I'm particularly worried about that. "I don't know. I wasn't there. But I'm willing to believe you."

The tension in Yang's shoulders relax and she gives me a tight hug. "Thanks Rubes."

I tightened my hold on her and put my head under her chin. I say with a smile, "You probably shouldn't have hit him though."

She lets out an airy chuckle, "Yea. I can't argue with that. Dad's right, I do need to work on my temper."

"I can't imagine what a not angry Yang would even be like."

"I will push you off this fucking bed." She whispers in my hair and holds me a little tighter. I can hear the smile in her voice.

We just hold each other for a few moments more before I stand up and walk towards the door. I stop before leaving and turn back to Yang, "I'm still really looking forward to going to school with you, by the way."

She smiles again, "Yeah, I'm sure it'll be fun." I nod and head to my room.


	3. Red Like Roses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Ruby first day of school. But of course things don't go according to plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My friend couldn't keep doing the proof reader thing for me, unfortunately. So this chapter might not be as well put together as the last two.

**Monday, April 13. Morning**

No nightmares last night. So that’s good. And no Velvet Room, either. I’m still not sure what the deal with that dream was. Especially since I can still remember it pretty well. I don’t think I’ve ever been able to remember a dream for this long. I even looked up what the Tarot cards meant before going to bed, and the reading checked out. I still don’t know how I knew about those cards though. 

Maybe the Velvet Room wasn’t a dream? I hope it was. I don’t think saving the world is a job I should get. 

Something I definitely remember from all the times I’ve visited was Yang’s habit of hogging the bathroom. I checked the bathroom three times for the sound of the shower running before I just propped myself against the wall next to the door and waited. I probably stood there close to five minutes before the door finally opened. Yang had a towel covering her torso and another to dry off her wild mane of long blond hair. I wouldn’t exactly call Yang vain, but she is very proud of her hair. Not for no reason, it’s gorgeous. 

She flips a big chunk of hair out of her face and looks at me, “Hey sis. Didn’t keep you waiting too long, did I?” 

“Just long enough to run the risk of kidney failure.” I rush into the bathroom and close the door. 

Just as I was sitting down, Yang called through the door, “Hey I wanted to tell you something about the school uniform.” 

“Really!? You’re doing this now?” 

“I didn’t think about it until after you were asleep last night, sue me. Anyway, Beacon has a  p retty loose dress code, so you can change up your look a little as long as you have most of the uniform intact.” 

“Okay, thanks. Now go away! It’s weird talking to someone when I’m trying to pee!” Yang doesn’t say anything back, so I just assume she walked back to her room to get dressed. After going through my usual morning routine, I think about what Yang said while putting on my uniform. After putting on the shirt, waistcoat and skirt, I spot a bright red hoodie and put it on with a shrug; leaving the blazer in the closet. I finish the look with a pair of knee high burgundy stockings and the school issued loafers. 

I get all of my school supplies in order and packed, and head down stairs to the living room where Yang is waiting for me and I get a look at what she did to her uniform. And I just give her a flat look, “You can not be serious.” 

“What?” So there’s something I didn’t mention about how Yang looks before; she has huge boobs. I mean, they aren’t ridiculously big or anything. Just big enough to give a lot of other girls we know a slight complex. And Yang isn’t exactly shy about showing them off. 

“I don’t care how lax the school’s dress code is, there is no way they’re okay with you showing this much cleavage.” 

“THANK YOU!” Dad’s voice rings out from his office. 

Yang’s uniform was mostly intact. She had the dress shirt, waistcoat, skirt, and stockings coming up to her thighs. She left off the blazer, rolled her sleeves up to the elbow, and had on a pair of black fingerless gloves. But the most noticeable thing was the first two buttons of her shirt being undone. 

“Hey, no one’s saying anything, so I don’t see the problem.” She said with a shrug and her usual charming smile. 

“Which is always her excuse whenever I say something.” Dad said, coming out of his office while fixing his tie. Dad’s wearing the one of the suits he usually has for his university job. It’s a slightly bigger fit to hide his build, since apparently some college kids find it a little weird that their teacher is so jacked. 

Yang gave a wry smile, “Maybe I just like riling you up?” She fidgets slightly, idly messing with her gloves or skirt, “Hey uh, I’m sorry I blew up last night.” 

“No, I shouldn’t keep dismissing your side of things.” Dad doesn’t quite keep eye contact with Yang as he walks up to her, “It’s just kinda hard to accept that an old friend could do something that messed up, y’know?” He gives her a warm smile and puts a hand on her shoulder, “I’m really sorry sweetheart. I won’t do that again.” 

Yang just smiles a little and hugs him, “Thanks dad.” 

The three of us leave the house and me and Yang wave at dad when he drives off for work. While the two of us walk to the subway station, I say to Yang, “I'm glad you and dad made up.” 

“Yea…” Yang said softly, “He didn’t say he believed me, though.” I blink a few times and think about what dad said. And I guess she’s right, he never actually said he believed that the teacher said what he did. I wonder how dad would deal with Yang if this whole thing gets brought up again. 

**_Take Your Time_ **

Yang walked me through the subway route to Beacon while we were on the Metrorail. It was pretty simple since there was only one transfer point. From Hanau, we have to take the Red Line and get off at Gallery Place in downtown Vale. From there, we transfer to the Orange Line and it’s a straight line to Asope’s Atrium Station. 

The only major problem is that Gallery Place Station can be a little confusing on your first visit. It was the converging point for the Red, Blue, Purple, and Orange Lines, so it can be a little intimidating if you’re trying to find one of the four main Lines and you’re not sure where they are; even if you do try to follow the directions posted around the station. So Yang leading me to the right train route was very much appreciated. She even offered to write the direction down for me if I ever need to get to or from school alone. 

Unfortunately, while we were on the Orange Line train it started to rain. “Aw, shit.” Yang holds her hand out of the covered staircase leading to the street from the underground station. “I probably should have checked the forecast before we left.” 

“Yeah, it’s too bad we didn’t think to bring umbrellas.” I say before looking at Yang with a sly smile, “But fortunately, I thought of wearing this…” I zip up my hoodie and pull the hood up then walk out in the rain. It doesn’t keep me totally dry, but it’s probably better than just having on a thin dress shirt. I turn back towards Yang with a big mocking grin while walking backwards. 

She just rolls her eyes, but then gets a panicked look on her face and yells, “Ruby look out!” 

I look behind me, but not quick enough to avoid knocking a girl to the ground with a loud yelp. “What do you think you’re doing!?” The girl had snow white hair tied into a side ponytail and was dressed in a Beacon uniform (But without the blazer or the waistcoat) so I just knocked a potential classmate into a puddle. Yay…

“I-I’m sorry! It was an accident!” I scramble to help the girl to her feet. 

But she swats my hands away, “Don’t touch me, you dolt!” 

“Hey don’t talk to her like that!” Yang shouted as she stomped over to us with fire in her eyes. Oh no, this is only going to get wrose. 

The girl stands up while trying in vain to wipe the wet dirt off her skirt and gives Yang a dismissive look, “Why am I not surprised this clumsy oaf is your friend.”

“Watch it, princess! I’m warning you!” 

“Yang it’s okay, really!” I hurry to pick up her umbrella and books and hand them back to the girl. And she just rips them out of my hands, “Hey, calm down. I’m just trying to help.” 

“Well, I wouldn’t have needed your help if you hadn’t run into me like a blind ox!” 

“I already said I was sorry, you don’t have to be so nasty about all this!” 

“How dare you!” She said genuinely in indignant, “First you knock me over, and now you insult me?”

“I wasn’t-”

Yang pushes past me, “Oh I’ll do more than insult you if you keep talking down to my sister like that!”

“Yang! Can you just-”

Before things could escalate even more, a car pulls up to the three of us and rolls down it’s window, “Is everything okay here?” The man in the car had black hair with grey streaks at his temples and a stern looking face. The white haired girl looks relieved at the man’s arrival, but Yang somehow looked even angrier. 

“Just a small disagreement,” The girl says, then gives Yang a knowing look. “Right, Yang?” 

Yang glares at her and through gritted teeth says, “Yea, it’s nothing.”

The man looks the three of us over and eventually shrugs, “Alright then. I can drive you girls the rest of the way to school if you don’t want to walk through the rain.” 

“Thank you, Mr. Ironwood. That would be lovely.” The girl said and walked over to the car. Well, if she’s okay with this guy, I guess it’s okay go with him. But Yang puts her arm out to stop me from moving. 

“Nah, we’re fine. Right, Ruby?” She gives me a hard meaningful look. 

I'm not totally sure what it means, but I decide to just side with her. “Yea, I guess. Thanks, though.” He just nods and, after giving Yang a look I can’t really read, drives off. I turned to Yang, “What was that about? I don’t wanna walk to school in the rain. I know I was joking about the hoodie, but I'm still wet and…” 

I stop ranting when I notice the look on Yang’s face, and something finally clicks in my mind, “That girl said Ironwood. That’s…”

“That’s the teacher I hit.” She said, looking at the street with a hard glare. “Guy’s a fucking asshole.” 

“He seemed fine.” I said with a shrug, looking towards where the car drove off, “That girl was okay with him.” 

She just scoffs, “That’s because she wasn’t on the Boxing team.” She walks a little bit ahead of me on the sidewalk and crosses her arms, “Ironwood acted like he was dictator and we were just his little tin soldiers. Hell it’s like he thinks the whole school is his personal army or something.” She sighs and looks back at me, “I know I shouldn’t have hit him, but I don’t regret it. What he said about Raven was just the last straw.” 

I walk up to her and hold her hand, “I’m sorry Yang.” I think I hear a notification on my phone, but I ignore it for the moment. 

She gives me a warm smile, “It’s nothing you have to worry about, Rubes. Although, I kinda got a bad reputation after punching Ironwood. So, some of the other kids at school might say some stuff about me around you. Especially if they find out we’re sisters.” 

“Don’t worry about it, Yang. I think I can handle it.” 

“Yea, I know. You’re a tough little thing.” She hugs me tightly real quick and walks off, “Come on, I know a shortcut to school. Shouldn’t take us too long to get there.” 

“Lead the way, sis.” 

“And don’t let Weiss get to you, by the way. She’s just some bratty rich girl with a stick up her ass.” 

I fished my phone out and checked to see what the notification was, and it seems like that weird Nav app had reappeared. The same one I deleted yesterday. And the day before. This is getting really weird now, there’s no way I downloaded this. 

It looks like the app found a destination somewhere, but I’m not sure what it is. After that...I don’t know. There was this weird pressure in my head, almost like the world...shifted, I guess. Like everything just flipped upside down for a second. 

I guess Yang must have felt it too, cause I hear her groaning, “Ugh, what the hell?” She shakes her head, “This is gonna be a long day, I just know it.” 

**Judgement Judgement Judgement**

The corner of Winter’s mouth twitched slightly when Ruby mentioned literally running into Weiss on her first day of school. She remembered her sister ranting to her about an obnoxious red head and “That blonde ogre” accosting her out of nowhere. She always had a feeling Weiss was exaggerating. 

“There was a train accident the afternoon before your first day at Beacon, yes? I assume you heard about it.” Winter asked Ruby after mentioning the encounter with Ironwood. The little red-head nods slowly. “At the time it was the latest incident connected to the Psychotic Episodes. I’m sure you’ve heard about them. They were all over the news. One of the victims was even a teacher at your school. You wouldn’t happen to have any insight into that?”

Ruby tries to think back, but she still can’t fully parse through the fog of her own mind. She got a little light headed, and took a few deep breaths to find her balance again. 

Winter, seeing Ruby having a hard time getting her thoughts in order, says to her, “Let's just move on.” She pulls out a manila folder full of information about Ironwood. “James Ironwood. Formerly of the Atlas military. A war hero awarded with the Atlas Medal of Honor and the Purple Heart. After only a few tours of duty, he retired due to a near fatal wound ending his military career. Some years ago, he moved to Vale to begin teaching at Beacon.” 

“I won’t try to excuse what he’s done or say he didn’t deserve incarceration after what he did to his students just to feed his own ego. And I suppose it makes sense you would target him considering what he did to your sister.” 

“it wasn’t just about that...” 

Winter cocked an eyebrow, “Then by all means, tell me what was about.” 

**Judgement Judgement Judgement**

Yang leads me into an alleyway that she claims will shave a few minutes off the walk to school. I’m still feeling off from earlier, but I just can’t put my finger on why. Everything seemed normal, until we left the alley and saw a weird compound with a huge mansion in the center. “Uh, Yang? Did you get turned around somewhere?” 

She just stared slack-jawed at the mansion when she answered, “N-no, I take that shortcut all the time. I’ve...I’ve never seen this before.” 

“You sure? Cause I was here yesterday and the school didn’t look like this.” 

“I know that, Ruby! I’ve been going here for almost two years!” Yang looks back at the compound for a second, “Well...not here. But, you know.”

I look at the plaque at the gate, “That sign says it’s Beacon Academy. Do you think they just remodeled the whole place really quickly?” Yang just gives me a flat look. “Yea, that didn’t sound right as soon as I said it.”

Yang sighs, runs her hands through her hair, and mutters to herself, “What the fuck is happening?” 

I glance at Yang, then at the compound our school is supposed to be, “Should we just...go in?

Yang’s brow furrows, “I don’t know. It could be dangerous.” 

“Maybe, but is there anything else we can do?” 

Yang just sighs again, “Alright, let’s check it out. But stay close to me. Just in case.” I nod and grab her hand. 

The two of us walk into the compound and try to get a feel for the place. It kinda looks like an army base. There are military trucks, tanks and transport helicopters dotted here and there, with unmanned watch towers stationed at the four corners of the compound. The Atlas flag is all over the place for some reason, and four large barracks are set around the compound to form an X between them. But the most eye catching thing is the mansion standing in the center of where the barracks are set. It was several stories tall; way taller than the surrounding buildings (All of which still look the same as yesterday. What the heck is going on?) All the lights were on so it at least looked like someone was home. So we head inside. 

The inside looks amazing, like something out of a sci-fi movie. It’s all sleek and futuristic with a grey and steel blue color pallet and holographic banners of the Atlas flag. There’s a grand staircase in the middle of the room we came in and at the top of it is...a huge portrait of Mr. Ironwood?

“What the hell?” Yang says looking up at the painting. “What is this place?” 

The sound of heavy footsteps drew our attention to the doorway to our right as a person (I think) dressed as a soldier and carrying a rifle walked into the room. He looked like a person at least. Except he had a disproportionately bulky upper body, his skin was charcoal black and a gas mask completely obscured his face; but we could see his glowing red eyes behind the mask. As soon as she spots the soldier, Yang steps in front of me and calmly addresses him, “Hey there buddy. How’s it going? You work around here?” 

The soldier walks up to us and says in a distorted voice, “You two are are trespassing here.” 

“Yes, yes we are.” Yang says while pushing me further behind me and backing away from the soldier. “But you know how it is. We’re kids and this place just kinda showed up out of nowhere so we were curious. But I think we’ve seen enough by now. Right Ruby?” 

“My curiosity has indeed been sated.” 

“Right, so I think we should be going.” Yang pulled me towards the door, but another soldier burst out of a puddle of red and black sludge right in front of us. More soldiers appear and surround us, all of them pointing their guns at us. 

“What do we do with them?” one of the soldiers asked. 

“Take them to a prison cell,” Another said, gesturing for two others to take us away, “We’ll let the general decide what to do with them.”

When the soldiers grab hold of us, Yang uppercuts the one coming at her and punches the one who grabbed me. We try to run away, but something hits me in the back of the head and I black out.

**Take You Time**

I wake up to the sound of Yang screaming and loud banging sounds. “Let us out of here! We have rights, goddammit!” Yang’s yelling and the weirdly bright fluorescent lights start giving me a headache. Yang rushes to my side when she hears me groan as I sit up on the stiff bed. Huh, this is the second time in two days I woke up in a strange bed. At least I have Yang with me this time. 

“Ruby, are you okay?” 

“Yea, I think.” There’s a hard throbbing at the back of my head, I don’t think it was just Yang making noise that was causing my skull to split open. “What happened? Where are we?” 

“A prison cell, looks like.” Yang stood up and we both looked at our surroundings, The room was small, but not terribly cramped. The walls were a sterile silvery white and there wasn’t anything in here with us other than the bed I was sitting on and a single toilet. I really hoped we got out of here before one of us had to use it. The front of the cell has a sheet of light instead of bars. 

I walk up to the front, put a hand on the sheet, and push on it. “Is...this a force field?” 

“That’s what it looks like. And unless Atlas has been really busy without anyone knowing about it; I’m pretty sure this shouldn’t be a thing.” 

“So...What’s going on?” 

“I don’t know.” Yang shakes her head and leans on the force field, “Those weird soldier dudes knocked you out and dragged us both here. They kept talking about some general they work for, but I have no idea who it is.”

I turn back to the force field and lightly slap it with an open hand, “This is bad, isn’t it?” 

“Yea, but don’t worry about it. We’ll get out of here.”

“How can you be sure?” 

Yang just smiles at me, “Cause, I’m the big sister. It’s my job to keep you safe.” I smile back and hug her tight. 

“Stand at attention, prisoners!” We both jump and back away from the force field as a bunch of the soldiers gather around the front of the cell. One of the soldiers pulls out a keycard and turns off the force field. The soldiers circle us and let a man into the cell, “Prepare for judgement by the Great General Ironwood!” 

“Ironwood!?” Yang recoils when the soldier announces the name. 

And sure enough, Mr. Ironwood, the same man that Weiss drove off with earlier, walked into the cell. But, he looked different. He was wearing a general’s uniform with a ridiculous amount of medals pinned to his chest and a metal strip attached to his right temple. But the strangest thing was his eerie yellow eyes. “ **Well, well, And here I thought the intruders were a couple of petty thieves. And instead, I’ve found Yang Xiao Long and her little sister.** ” 

“What the hell is going on, what are you doing here?” 

Ironwood just scoffs, “ **What a ridiculous question. This is my army, and I am in supreme command over this base. I would think even an insubordinate soldier like yourself would recognize your general.** ” 

“General? What the hell are you talking about? You’re a friggin’ gym teacher!” 

Ironwood shakes his head, “ **Still so disrespectful. I think it’s time you learned proper manners when addressing a superior.** ” He gestures towards Yang and some of the soldiers move to grab her again. She pushes and punches them as best she can, but the soldiers eventually manage to hold her down. I try to help, but one of the soldiers pin me to the wall with very little effort. 

Yang struggles as hard as she can against the soldier's grip as Ironwood calmly walks up to her. “ **You have so much fire. You could make a good soldier if you just learned to behave.** ” 

Yang actually tries lunging at him like she’s trying to bite him, “Go screw yourself, you arrogant son of a--” Ironwood cuts her off with a swift punch to the stomach. 

“Yang!” I try to push the soldier holding me off as Yang doubles over and goes into a coughing fit, but he just slams me into the wall harder. 

“ **Maybe this will teach you respect!** ” Ironwood just continues to hit her more, repeatedly punching her in the face and stomach until finally throwing her against the wall. “ **So, have you learned your lesson yet?** ” Ironwood askes looming over her. 

Yang just spits out some blood and gives him a hard defiant glare. Have I mentioned how awesome I always thought she was? Ironwood rolls his eyes at her still trying to keep up a brave face, “ **Unfortunate. There’s no place in this man’s army for such unruly behavior.** ” He gestured to one of the soldiers, “ **Soldier, your side arm.** ” Yang’s eyes widened. For the first time since Ironwood entered the cell, she was genuinely afraid of him. 

The soldier handed Ironwood a handgun and I started struggling even harder to do...something to help Yang. Ironwood cocks the gun before looking back at me, “ **I’d settle down, Ruby. You don’t want to end up like your sister, do you?** ” 

At this point there were tears in my eyes. Yang was going to die, and I couldn’t do anything to stop it. But the world seems to slow down, and a glowing blue butterfly moves in front of my eyes, “You are truly in an unjust game. One where there is no hope of winning. But if you can hear my voice, then there may be an opportunity open to you.” 

_ Is this going to be the end of it?  _

My head starts pounding like something is trying to crawl out of my skull as a mysterious voice goes through my mind. 

_ Are you really going to stand there and watch your sister die? Are you going to lose another loved one without a fight? _

The image of my mom’s broken body flashes into my mind as if the voice is forcing me to remember what I’ve already lost and what’s at stake in the moment. I look at Yang, the terror in her face. My big strong sister, looking so small and scared; I didn’t like it. I hated it. I hated someone I thought of as unstoppable was made to feel like this. And I told the voice, “No...I won’t let this happen.” 

_ Good, let your true desires be known. Everyone sees you as small and helpless, as a child that needs to be protected. We know better don’t we? We know that within you is a fierce warrior ready to run wild, to rip and tear your enemies to shreds. I can set that warrior free. _

The pressure in my head increases the more the voice speaks. It’s so intense I can barely take it. I thrash against the arm holding against the wall, but the soldier still manages to keep me in place. 

_ I offer you the seeds of rebellion. All you need to do is take them to grow a flourishing garden of Death! To become the merciless Reaper you were always meant to be! _

_ I AM THOU, THOU ART I! _

_ Spread glorious death to the fools who try to tame your Indomitable spirit! No matter the offence against you, plant your feet and stare down all opposition! And if you find yourself condemned to hell, rise up and take the throne for yourself! _

Ironwood points the gun at Yang, “ **Say goodbye, Yang.** ” 

“LEAVE HER ALONE!!” A strange force, like a massive gust of wind, burst out as I yell at Ironwood. Everyone in the cell backs away from me, even the soldier let’s me go. 

I feel something on my face. It feels...heavy. I have to get it off. I reach up and start yanking on what feels like some kind of mask. It’s like it’s physically attached to my skin, but I just keep pulling. Blood starts running down my cheeks, and I just pull harder. It hurts. But I know that leaving the mask on will hurt even more. I need, I NEED to get it off. With one last yank and a cry of pain, I finally get the mask off. And I feel good. Better than good. Everything finally starts to make sense. 

Ironwood is my enemy. And I have to destroy him.

My mouth curls into a twisted grin as blue flames consume my body, but I don’t feel pain. I don’t feel fear. 

I feel Free.

The flames recede and I can sense something else. A part of me that isn’t me. All around me the blue flames continue to burn and ethereal chains surround me and the entity that both is me and isn’t me. I spread my arms and another strong wind knocked Ironwood and the soldiers against the wall. 

“Ruby?” Yang Looked at me with either shock, fear, or awe; I’m not totally sure at the moment. 

I turn to the floating woman that is a part of myself. She wore a long flowing purple gown with vine patterns snaking along the torso with a high collar and no sleeves. She had a pair of shoulder length gloves with the same patterns and she gripped a gleaming silver scythe. The gap between the gloves and the main body of the dress didn’t show any skin, but instead thick purple smoke. She had long lavender hair with lily petals falling from her locks. Her face was obscured by a vale held by garlands of Lilies, with her glowing eyes showing through. 

_ I am the Queen of the Dead, Persephone! _ The part of me stated with all the power and grandeur the name entailed.  _ I am the rebel's soul that resides within you. If you’d wish it, I will give you the power to change your fate. _

“Yes,” I say with no hesitation, “I want it!” 

_ Very well.  _ From behind the vale, I can feel Persephone’s cruel smile growing.

Ironwood stumbles to his feet and forces his soldiers to do the same, “ **What are you idiots waiting for! Kill her!** ” 

Persephone scoffs,  _ Humph, kill them however you wish! Let your wild heart run free!  _ My grin grows as I extend my hand and, with another flash of blue fire, a red and grey scythe appears. After giving the polearm a quick twirl to get used to the weight of it, I leap forward and slice one of the soldiers in half with a single swipe. Another soldier tries to shoot at me, but with a level of skill I never knew I had, I spin the scythe in front of me fast enough to create a shield and block the bullets. 

When another takes aim, I move out of their line of sight and quickly run towards one of the walls away from Yang. I bound off the wall toward one of the soldiers and decapitate it, landing behind it as black blood gushes from its neck before it’s body dissipates. 

In one fluid motion, I let the scythe slide from one hand to another and grip the weapon at the bottom of it’s shaft; swinging it to literally cut the legs from under the next soldier. Without missing a beat, I slide the scythe back into both of my hands and, with a twirling flourish, I take off it’s head as well. 

Once it’s body disappears as well, I turn to the two remaining soldiers. They share a look, then shake and convulse before melting into black puddles and reemerging into new forms. They became strange pumpkin headed creatures in cloaks and carrying lanterns. If I hadn’t been hopped up on adrenaline and whatever power Persephone was filling me with I might have questioned the transformation. 

Instead, I hear Persephone’s voice in my head,  _ Detest the enemy before you.  _ She tells me.  _ Turn that animosity into power, and unleash it!  _ I can feel the mask from before is back on my face. It doesn't feel quite as heavy, but I feel it itching to come off again. 

I reach up and in one quick, painless motion, rip the mask off, “PERSONA!” Persephone re-emerges with a burst of blue fire and holds her hand out towards one of the pumpkin heads; causing black and red energy to erupt from the ground and destroy it, leaving only rose petals behind. 

The second Pumpkin head appears shocked by it’s friend dying and creates a small fireball and hurls it at me. Persephone blocks the fireball with her scythe, and I rush forward, dodge another fireball, and Persephone and I both slice the pumpkin head in the shape of an X. 

Persephone disappears and I feel the mask reappear on my face.  _ This power of mine, is now yours. Let nothing stand in your way. Be the pitiless Reaper this world needs.  _

I take a moment to lean against my scythe to catch my breath. And that’s when it hits me…

I HAVE A SCYTHE!!

Why do I have a scythe!? And I just killed things! I’m pretty sure those soldiers weren’t people, but I still killed the heck out of them. I didn’t even think about it, I just did it. 

And...Am I wearing a cape? I look down and I finally realize I’m wearing different clothes. It’s almost like what I was wearing in the Velvet Room; The bright red cape was almost identical, but had a silver rose brooch tying it together. And instead of a blouse and skirt, I’m wearing a long sleeve thigh length dress with red frills. As well as dark red leggings, black knee length boots, and fingerless leather gauntlets. I do still get a corset, but it only goes around my abdomen. 

I’m still wearing the mask, but it doesn’t feel heavy anymore...And I don’t really know what that means. Everything I just did, it was more than just a fight or flight instinct taking over. It was something else, something primal. But...Not like someone, or something else took over. It was more like...

“ **Don’t move!** ” Ironwood interrupts my thoughts going a million miles an hour by pointing a gun at my face. “ **I don’t know how you did that, but I will not allow a mutin-** ” 

Yang punches Ironwood square in the jaw mid-sentence and knocks him to the ground. “Do not threaten my sister like that, you piece of shit!” 

As Ironwood groans and rubs his chin, I notice the keycard on his belt, “Yang, get the key!”

She looks down confused for a second, but her eyes light up with understanding before snatching the card off him. 

We both run out of the cell, and Yang uses the keycard to put the forcefield up again. But, before we could really relax, Ironwood slammed his fist against it. “ **You little brats! Let me out of here!”**

We back away in surprise, but then Yang just smirks, “Well, since you asked so nicely, I suppose we can let you out-Oops!” She snaps the card in half and tosses them down the hall, “Clumsy me! I guess you’re stuck in there.” Ironwood just starts yelling at us more as we run away from the cell. 

“Well he ain’t getting out of there for a while. But now that we have a minute to relax,” Yang says after we’ve turned a corner, “What the fuck just happened!?”

“I don’t know!” I shriek, hugging my scythe close to me. 

“But...I mean the giant glowing lady, that outfit, the mask, the scythe; why do you have a scythe!?” 

“I don’t know!” With a flash of blue fire, I’m back in my school uniform and holding my backpack. “WHAT!?”

“What the hell is going on?” Yang asks and pokes me in the shoulder. I just swat her hand away. She shakes her head, “Whatever, whatever! We can figure this out later. First thing’s first, we need to get out of here.” I nod and we run down the hall, hopefully to freedom. 

It was a little confusing trying to find our way around this prison, at least I think that’s what this is. There are other cells like the one we were stuck in, but they’re all empty. Yang, unfortunately, was having a hard time trying to remember the way back to the exit. Apparently she was preoccupied with thrashing around while the soldiers were dragging her down here rather than paying attention to where they were taking her. So we got a little lost, and had to hide from some more soldiers, but we did eventually find another occupied cell. 

“Hey! Hey, you two! Can you help me out?” We follow the voice to one of the cells, and see the prisoner is a strange looking dog creature. It had large brown eyes and a grey-ish brown fur and white on his underbelly and legs. And he is just the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen!

“Oh my gosh! Yang look at him!” I excitedly kneel down to get a better look at him...I’m pretty sure it’s a him, “He’s got cute little goggles on his head! And a cute little pancho! And a cute little red scarf!” 

“I get it, he’s cute! Now keep your voice down, or the guards might find us.” 

“Can we keep him!?” 

“What-no!”

“Why not!?”

“Because he’s a bipedal talking dog! For all we know he could be another monster, like those pumpkin head things from before!”

“You do realize you’re both yelling now, right!?” The dog shouts at us and we realize he’s right. The three of us stay quiet for about a minute or so to see if any of the guards heard us. When it seems like we’re safe for the moment, the dog addresses us again, “Okay, now can you two get me out of here before you get the whole base’s attention?” 

I was about to agree, but then I remembered, “Uh, we can’t. Yang snapped the only keycard we had in half.” 

“You did what!?” 

“No I didn’t.” She says calmly and pulls the card out of her pocket. 

I just tilt my head in confusion, “But, I saw you…”

Yang just shrugs, “That was my library card. I barely use it anyway, and I wanted to freak Ironwood out.” 

The dog rubs his paws together (It’s so cute) after hearing Yang’s explanation, “Okay, great now just open the cell.” 

Yang puts a hand on her hip and turns to the dog, “No way, Rover. We still don’t know if you’re not a monster or whatever. I mean you had to be locked up in here for some reason.” 

“Oh! That-You-I…” The dog just started softly growling in frustration at Yang’s accusations, So I decided to point something out. 

“But Yang, we were locked up too. And we didn’t do anything.” 

“Hm, that’s true.” Yang looked down thinking.

“And besides,” I continued, “Maybe he can show us the way out.” 

“I can! I can!” The dog shouts before catching himself. He clears his throat, then continues in a softer voice, “I’ll have you know I am a world renowned hunting dog. I was scouting this place out for my latest hunt...but uh...I sort of, uh…”

“You got caught did you?” Yang asked with a smirk.

I’m pretty sure if it weren’t for the fur, we’d be seeing him blushing, “I-Well you two were caught too.” 

“Yea, but we’re not ‘World Renowned Hunting Dogs’, are we?” 

The dog just growls at her. “Yang, come on. Let him out. He can help us.” 

Yang sighs and places the key on the lock, shutting down the forcefield for the cell. The dog walks out of the cell and actually stretches. Ah! I think I’m gonna die of cuteness! “Ah, sweet freedom. Thanks for, eventually, doing the right thing, blondie.”

“We don’t know if it’s right yet, Fiddo. So don’t screw us over or I’ll punt you so hard your grand puppies will feel it.” 

“Is she always this violent?” The dog asked. 

I just shrug, “Yeah, pretty much.” I just scoop him up and hug him close to the chest, “Does that mean we can keep him?” 

“No you can’t keep me!” He wriggles out of my hands and jumps back to the ground. “I already have a master who finds my skills invaluable. And as soon as I’m done with this hunt I’ll be returning to him.” 

“See, he has an owner. Now give it a rest.” 

“Aww…” My shoulders slump a little, I’ve always wanted a dog. “Well, you can still show us the way out, right doggie?” 

“I suppose I could, but you’ll have to follow my directions exactly.” He starts to walk away, but quickly looks back, “And the name’s Zwei, by the way.” 

“Okay Zwei, my name is Ruby, and this is my sister Yang.” The two of us followed him as he ran down the hall on all fours, apparently going into “Hunting Dog” mode by sniffing the ground and the air trying to get his bearings. 

And he definitely seemed to know what he was doing. Leading us through the prison while avoiding guards to the best of his ability, even stopping us from walking right into some of them. We were doing pretty good, until we came to a locked door. It had a card scanner like the prison cells we saw before, so Yang used the keycard to try and open it. Unfortunately, after a harsh beep, nothing happened. She tied a couple more times, but the door stayed shut. 

“Dammit.” Yang turns to Zwei, “Okay, what now?” 

Zwei hums to himself before walking up to the scanner and sniffing it. He sniffs the air and followed whatever he smelled to Yang, before running back the way we came, “I think I can find one of the guards who came through this door. Maybe we can snatch it off him.” 

Yang sighs, “There’s no other way through here, is there?” Zwei just shrugs, “Alright...Let’s go find another one of these weird monster guards who want to kill us.” 

We follow Zwei until he finds a guard with the right keycard, who is partoling the hall with another. “That’s our mark. Now, how do we get the card off him?” 

I look down at my hand, and heard Persephone’s voice in my head again,  _ It’s time to Reap.  _ In a flash of blue fire, I was back in the black outfit with the red cape. 

“Interesting…” Zwei says looking me over. 

“Who's there!? I know I heard something!” The guard’s distorted voice called out. 

Zwei looks at me, “Okay, change of plans.” And runs out to confront the guard. I chase after him and Yang follows close behind. The guards notice us almost immediately, and like the ones in the cell, they melt into black puddles and reform into two creatures, but not the pumpkin heads from before. One was a little red haired fairy in a blue leotard. And the other was a winged demon looking thing with a long curved spike attached to his...Oh, gross.

“I hope you’re ready, Ruby!” Zwei says before planting his feet and straightening his back, “Come! VENDIDAD!” In a burst of blue fire, not unlike when I call Persephone, a giant book appears beneath Zwei and that floats in the air while he sits on it’s open pages. “Go get ‘em! I’ll back you up!” 

I just look wide eyed at him as he floats a little higher, “Back me up? How?” 

“Just trust me!” He says as weird purple symbols whirl around him. 

I was about to say something else, but the demon flew at me with some weird glow coming off his hands. I roll out of the way and reach behind me to pull out the collapsed scythe tucked under my cape. I unfold it just as the fairy dive bombs me with a kick and, with a lot more force than you’d think something as small as her could generate, knocks me into a wall. 

“Don’t worry Ruby!” The symbols around Zwei fly towards me and my body was enveloped in the same purple light. It made my skin feel kinda prickly, weird. 

The fairy flies at me again with electricity crackling off her body. I dive out of the way and take a swing at her, slashing her across the chest and sending her flying. 

The demon rushes me with his hands outstretched, but I manage to block him so he just grabs my scythe’s shaft. He just starts laughing in my face as his hands glow and I go a little weak in the knees. I swat him aside, but have to lean against my scythe after. For some reason I feel a little tired. 

“You have to be careful, Ruby!” Zwei calls out while white symbols float in front of him. “Incubus have the power to drain your lifeforce with his hands.” 

“You know what these things are?” Yang asked from the sidelines. 

“Of course. Incubus and Pixie.” He says with a shrug. “They’re basic Shadows. Not particularly powerful, but they shouldn’t be taken lightly.” 

Shadows. Need ask about that later. 

The demon...uh, Incubus...Rushed at me again, but this time I jabbed the top of the scythe into his gut and drove him to the ground. I pole vault over him, with the scythe still stuck in his stomach, and when I land I twirl the scythe and knock Incubus into the air. I rip my mask off, ‘PERSEPHONE!” My other self erupts into existence and holds her hand out towards Incubus. A sphere of red energy encased Incubus, and when Persephone closed her hand, the sphere exploded into rose petals. 

Incubus was gone, but I sorta forgot about Pixie. I got hit in the back by a bolt of lightning that...didn’t hurt as much as you’d think being struck by lightning would have. I glare at the little fairy, and Persephone flies towards her and slashes her across the abdomen. She then uses the back of her scythe to knock Pixie towards me, and I baseball swing to slice her in half. 

As soon as Pixie’s body dissolves, a keycard falls to the ground. I pick up the card after my clothes change back to normal. Zwei’s book disappeared and he and Yang walk over to me. “That was really impressive. You may not have full control of your powers, but your Persona is strong.”

“Persona?” Yang asks, “Is that what that giant glowing lady is?”

“Persephone.”

“What?”

“The glowing lady...My Persona. Her name is Persephone.”

Yang gives me an off look, “You named it?”

I scratch the back of my head, “She kinda named herself, actually.”

Yang was clearly still confused, but Zwei stepped up, “Personas are a part of us. They represent our truest selves, so we can hear them speaking to us. And they have names just like we do.” 

“And your Persona,” Yang starts, “Is a book?”

“Well, not all Personas are meant for combat. Mine is more about support.” Zwei turned to me, “Did you notice when Pixie hit you with lightning, it didn’t actually hurt that much?” I nod, it did seem weird that being hit by lightning didn’t just outright kill me. “That was one of Vendidad’s powers. A little spell to make you more resilient.” 

“Wow, that’s pretty cool.” 

“Yea, it’s great. You got the keycard, right?” I hold the card up to show her I have it. “Okay then, let’s get back to that door and get the hell out of this prison.” She turns away and heads back in a brisk pace. 

I run to keep pace and grab her hand, “Yang, are you okay? You seem more on edge than usual.”

Yang sighs, “I know...I just want to get you out of here as soon as possible. I know you have your Persona thing, but this place is still dangerous. And it’s a kind of danger I can’t really protect you from.”

“Well, maybe it’s time I protected you?”

“I don’t think I have much of a choice.” She says with a chuckle, “Just make sure I don’t die, okay?” 

I smile and give her a little salute, “I’ll do my best.” 

We quickly make our way back to the locked door and use the keycard to get past. Zwei continues to lead us out of the prison, until Yang stops by one of the only occupied cells we’ve passed so far. “Hey guys, Wait! I think I know this guy. He was on the boxing team with me.” She kneels down in front of the cell to get a better look at the boy lying face down on the ground. He had blue, shoulder length straight hair and was wearing what looked like a gym uniform. “Sky? Hey, Sky! Can you hear me?” 

The boy, Sky, looks up at her, “Yang? What are you doing here?” 

Yang just smirks a little, “I think I should be asking you that. Don’t worry, I have the key. We’ll get you out.” 

Out of nowhere, Zwei pulls Yang’s hand away from the lock. “Yang, don’t bother. We have to get out of here now!” 

“What are you talking about? We can’t just leave him here.” 

“He’s right, don’t bother.” Sky said, slowly getting to his knees, “It’s pointless to try and escape. You should go back to your cell and wait for the General’s punishment.” 

“What? Sky, stop messing around!” 

“There they are!” More guards come barreling down the hall towards us. 

“Oh great!” Zwei turns towards Yang, “We could have avoided this, y’know!” 

“Oh stuff it, fleabag!” Yang opens the call and tosses me the keycard just as my clothes change again. “Lock the cell and take care of those guys. I’ll try to get Sky to follow us out.” 

“Yang, I’m telling you; there’s no point!” 

“Save it for later!” I lock the cell and take out my scythe. The guards change into two creatures that kinda look like little kids with flowers growing out of their heads and balancing on stubby feet with no toes. “Is there anything I should know about these things?” 

Zwei hops back onto Vendidad and more symbols hover in front of him. I rush towards the little plant things and take a swing at one of them, but it dodges out of the way. One tried to dropkick me, but I was able to push it aside. Unfortunately, the other one headbutts me right in my unguarded side. I tumbled over myself, but was able to find my footing enough to summon Persephone. She swings her scythe wildly, trying to mow down the little plant creatures. (And yes I did do that on purpose) But even she misses. 

I can feel Persephone’s frustration as she raises her hand towards one of the creatures to use her dark energy attack. However, the other creature jumped on her arm and swung around it like a gymnast bar to throw off her aim, and the one she targeted headbutts her in the stomach. Unfortunately, I also feel the hit. I suppose it’s good that I figured that little side effect of having a Persona now rather than when I’m facing something more dangerous, but I’m not really thinking about that as I double over in pain.

“Zwei! Little help!?” 

“Okay, these things are called Mandrakes. It seems like they’re weak to fire.” 

I duck out of the way of another attack then take a swing at one of the Mandrakes; who didn’t just dodge my scythe, but vaulted over the blade and kicked me in the face. “Well, I’m pretty sure I can’t make fire, so do you have anything that can actually help?” 

“Have you just...tried to make fire?” He said with a shrug.

“Zwei!”

“Alright, alright!” More symbols appear around him, only they were green this time. The symbols fly towards me like the purple one from before. But unlike before, where my skin felt tingly when the symbols hit me, this time the world seems to slow down slightly. Just enough for me to keep pace with the Mandrakes. 

Even with her veil I can tell Persephone has a smile on her face. She wipes her hand on the blade of her scythe to coat it in her red and black energy, then slams it into the ground right in front of the Mandrakes before they can react and sends them flying. I follow up by bouncing off a nearby wall and slicing the two in half. I’m still not sure how I’m doing this stuff, but I’m not complaining. 

Persephone returns to my mask and, after my clothes change back, I unlock the cell Yang kept herself and Sky in. Yang walks out dispondantly before Sky says to me, “Please...close the cell.” 

I frown, but do as he asks. “I guess you couldn’t get to him?” 

She just shook her head, “It’s so weird. He just kept saying how worthless he was and that he deserved to be here because he disappointed the general. I mean, Sky was never the most assertive guy in the world, but this is so messed up.” 

“That’s because he isn’t real!” Zwei shouted, clearly aggravated at us for ignoring him until now. 

“What do you mean he isn’t real?” Yang asked, putting a hand on her hip. 

“Don’t you think it’s weird that this huge mansion popped up out of nowhere?” We both nod, “That’s because this whole area is a manifestation of the person who controls it. It’s how they view the world, and everything within it conforms to that view, including the people inside it.”

“So basically…” Yang puts her hand on her chin trying to piece all this together. “The mansion, this prison, the base, all of it; is how Ironwood sees the school?” 

“Exactly. When a person’s heart and desires become somehow twisted and distorted, a structure like this appears. I call them Palaces.” 

“But, how did Mr. Ironwood make this Palace thing?” I ask.

“Well it's not like he did it on purpose. I don’t think someone plans on their heart becoming so twisted. So it’s entirely possible this Ironwood guy doesn’t even know his Palace exists.”

“Okay, it’s all really weird, but I think I get it.” Yang turns her attention to the boy in the cell, who had curled up into the fetal position, “But if this isn’t Sky, then what is he?” 

“Like I said, everything in the Palace is a construct that reflects the world view of it’s ruler. And that includes the people inside it; like that guy with the blue hair. How he looks, how he acts, it’s all how the Palace’s ruler sees him.” 

“So, he’s like a figment of Ironwood’s imagination. And this reason he’s so timid and snivelling is because that’s how he sees the boxing team?”

“Basically.” 

Yang looks back at Sky for a second, before turning to me, “Hey Rubes; think you can take that scythe of yours and jam it blade first up Ironwood’s ass?”

“Yang…”

“Alright, forget it.” She just says with a shrug, “I think we’re almost out of the prison. Let’s hurry and get out of here before we run into more guards.”

The rest of the way out was, thankfully, uneventful. Apparently the prison was built right beneath the mansion, and with Ironwood and most of his Shadow guards still in the prison looking for us, we could run right out the front door without any problem. 

Unfortunately, after we accidentally broke into the Palace, Ironwood seems to have made his guards patrol the surrounding base. On the upside, Zwei’s nose allowed us to avoid the patrols enough so we could get through the front gate. 

“Oh, sweet freedom!” Yang says while raising her arms above her head. 

I lean against the brick wall surrounding the base and let relief wash over me, “I can’t believe we actually made it out.” 

“Well I promised to get you two out, and I always keep my promise.” Zwei says putting his little paw over his heart. 

I kneel down and rub Zwei’s adorable cheeks, “Oh you are so cute! I’m gonna miss you, Zwei.” 

Zwei gently pushes my hands away, “Uh, right. Okay, I guess you guys should get out of here before anyone notices you.”

“Can’t argue with that.” Yang says, taking my hand, “Let’s get out of here, Ruby.” I eagerly nod and we run away from the strange base as fast as possible. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Believe it or not, I had this part of the story planned out long before Ironwood went off the deep end. I just never trusted that mothafucker. I don't know what to tell you.


End file.
